Ted Kennedy's Brain Tumor:This sounds suspiciously like an opportunity to portray himself as the legitimate government of Ukraine, establish a Russian-backed alternative to that in Kiev and ... well, partition the country.

if you can't be president of Ukraine you can at least be governor of a Russian Crimea.

You know what you're right. We should just get it over with already. We can start with a little saber rattling foreplay and then take it up a notch and declare war against Russia. That will restore our rightful place in the world.

One of the articles earlier this week described his foreign policy as "waiting till his opponents are unstable, then applying force". Now, I believe the man knows Judo. It's almost like he's applying the principles of that art to foreign policy.

CleanAndPure:"Syria needs to stop killing their own people and install democracy. What's that Putin... Syria is your friend? Oh OK... go ahead supply weapons to the dictator then. We won't stop you."

"Syria needs to stop using chemical weapons. What's that Putin? You're sending a target ship? What, that's supposed to scare us? We're still coming. Oh, you've convinced them to get rid of their WMDs? Oh, ok. Go ahead. And thanks for the UN verification recently that you followed through."

You know what you're right. We should just get it over with already. We can start with a little saber rattling foreplay and then take it up a notch and declare war against Russia. That will restore our rightful place in the world.

We will never fight over Eastern Europe. That's why I think it was a mistake to admit the Baltic States into NATO. At least with Ukraine, failing to do anything won't destroy NATO. When Lithuania's turn comes, though, NATO will fall apart.

Lol. One of the major geo-political dynamics these days is Russia's decade of dealing with no longer being one of the two dominant superpowers in the world. They have a massive inferiority complex, as evidenced by the Sochi mess that cost more than all other Olympics combined.

This reminds me of the theory that America is still an English territory because our colonial charters included language that disallowed acts of revolt and therefore our War of Independence was illegal.

At the end of the day it's up to the entity with a monopoly on legitimate use of force in a territory to determine what is or isn't legal, and that's not you Chuckles.

LewDux:Also Ukrainians are naziest nazies that ever nazied and half of them really want to be part of Russia because they know Russian

It's more like 25-30 percent that are ethnic Russian and Russian-speakers. The "good guys," the Ukrainian nationalists, also include most of the pro-Nazi types, but they're a small minority within that faction. And historically they were more anti-Stalin than pro-Hitler; they were no more anti-Semitic than the Soviets (which isn't much of a compliment).

Ted Kennedy's Brain Tumor:This sounds suspiciously like an opportunity to portray himself as the legitimate government of Ukraine, establish a Russian-backed alternative to that in Kiev and ... well, partition the country.

Exactly. He is saying what needs to be said to give Russia a fig leaf under which to act. Yanukovich was never deposed and if he was, it was illegal. He just went on a surprise trip to visit Ukraine's ally, Russia while at home someone decided to illegally take over the country. Russia should thwart the illegal activities and over-throw the illegal government. This is what Russia and Yanukovich are planning on.

greentea1985:Ted Kennedy's Brain Tumor: This sounds suspiciously like an opportunity to portray himself as the legitimate government of Ukraine, establish a Russian-backed alternative to that in Kiev and ... well, partition the country.

Exactly. He is saying what needs to be said to give Russia a fig leaf under which to act. Yanukovich was never deposed and if he was, it was illegal. He just went on a surprise trip to visit Ukraine's ally, Russia while at home someone decided to illegally take over the country. Russia should thwart the illegal activities and over-throw the illegal government. This is what Russia and Yanukovich are planning on.

Who exactly is he trying to sell that story to? Because that's clearly not the truth.I'm guessing the answer to that question is "the rest of the world". Because if, and when, the Russian's move in, there has to be some support from the rest of the world. Common sense would dictate, anyway.

durbnpoisn:greentea1985: Ted Kennedy's Brain Tumor: This sounds suspiciously like an opportunity to portray himself as the legitimate government of Ukraine, establish a Russian-backed alternative to that in Kiev and ... well, partition the country.

Exactly. He is saying what needs to be said to give Russia a fig leaf under which to act. Yanukovich was never deposed and if he was, it was illegal. He just went on a surprise trip to visit Ukraine's ally, Russia while at home someone decided to illegally take over the country. Russia should thwart the illegal activities and over-throw the illegal government. This is what Russia and Yanukovich are planning on.

Who exactly is he trying to sell that story to? Because that's clearly not the truth.I'm guessing the answer to that question is "the rest of the world". Because if, and when, the Russian's move in, there has to be some support from the rest of the world. Common sense would dictate, anyway.

Nobody has to believe him, the Russians just need him to say that so they can say that they believe him as an excuse to put him back in power. It legitimizes their actions to a certain extent and creates uncertainty for anyone who opposes them.

greentea1985:Ted Kennedy's Brain Tumor: This sounds suspiciously like an opportunity to portray himself as the legitimate government of Ukraine, establish a Russian-backed alternative to that in Kiev and ... well, partition the country.

Exactly. He is saying what needs to be said to give Russia a fig leaf under which to act. Yanukovich was never deposed and if he was, it was illegal. He just went on a surprise trip to visit Ukraine's ally, Russia while at home someone decided to illegally take over the country. Russia should thwart the illegal activities and over-throw the illegal government. This is what Russia and Yanukovich are planning on.

And is what the hairsplitters at the UN will use to keep the EU and US out of it except for humanitarian aid and covert stuff.

Not that I think we should be getting involved anyway as we got enough on the table as is.